Charlie Bone and the Hidden King
by Sinnuo
Summary: Charlie Bone is back at Bloors Academy. The tension between the Children of the Red King is terrible. New faces, old faces, and more magic and adventure than Charlie could have imagined…Witches, books, fights and the battle of the Children of the Red King
1. A Visit to Ekeziel

**_

* * *

_**

Charlie Bone and the Hidden King

_**By: **Sinnuo_

_**Chapter One:** A Visit to Ezekiel _

**Rating: **PG

_**Summary:** Charlie Bone is back at Bloors Academy. The tension between the Children of the Red King is terrible. New faces, old faces, and more magic and adventure than Charlie could have imagined…Witches, books, fights and the battle of the Children of the Red King is what awaits Charlie… _

* * *

Death was in the air.

The Red King knew of it, and sensed that his time was up. Three days before he died, he asked his daughter, Amosa, to paint his portrait.

Amosa was an extremely talented artist, so got to work immediately. She chose the finest canvas and charcoals, and began her magnificent portrait.

For two days she sketched and outlined, but on the third day, her father, the Red King, died.

She was absolutely devastated, and once she had finished the portrait, she fled from home, and was never heard from again. Rumours where that she fled to the Forests in Wales, and died a year later.

She had left her painting behind, and when the Red Kings oldest son, Borlath, heard of the painting, he immediately set off the find it. It took him several months, but at long last, he found it.

But he put a curse on it. His shadow, would forever reflect on the King, blocking anyone who tried to listen or enter the painting.

* * *

Red and gold leaves swirled down Filbert Street. A heavy wind was howling away, nearly uprooting trees and bushes. The sky was dark, and rain was beating down on the windows of Number 9. 

Charlie Bone was asleep as this scene played through his window. A book lay open on his lap, and he was snoring loudly. The rain lashed out at the windows, causing him to occasionally snort.

Down the hallway, a tall old woman stepped out of her bedroom door. She was smartly dressed in a long black skirt, with a jet black coat. Her snow white hair was tied up in a bun.

She snorted at her reflection and marched down the stairs. She opened the door and stepped outside. The front door slammed shut, causing Charlie to wake up. He sat up, and his book went sprawling on the floor.

He blearily rubbed his eyes and stood up. He could hear silence in the house. He was on his own. He opened his door and went down stairs. He opened the door and saw Grandma Bone scurrying down the street, walking north. The direction of Bloors Academy.

Charlie wondered what she was going there for. To hatch a plot with her evil sisters? To visit old Ezekiel Bloor?

Charlie had a nasty feeling that he would soon find out.

* * *

Ezekiel Bloor steered his wheel-chair to the long, mahogany table. On it where placed a small phial of dark green liquid, a phial of what looked suspiciously liked blood, and a large gold framed portrait. In the portrait a man with skin the colour of warm earth stood proudly, his red clock billowing out behind him, and his gleaming shield held in his firm grip. 

Ezekiel snickered and rubbed his hands together. His plans should go well. If he could revive the Red King, he would have immense power. Enough power to achieve his dreams, and get rid of that Charlie Bone, and his meddling Uncle, Paton Yewbeam.

He laughed with glee and leaned over the table. With shaking hands the ancient man grasped the phial of the green liquid, and brought it to his chest.

"Maybe I should do it Grandfather." said a cool voice from the shadows. Ezekiel's grandson, Manfred Bloor stepped out of the shadows. Today Manfred was wearing a magnificent cloak, black in colour, and his long black hair was tied back into a thin ponytail. Gleaming black eyes bored into Ezekiel. Hypnotising eyes.

"No you fool. Remember what happened last time." snapped Ezekiel.

At that moment, the door burst open, causing Ezekiel to nearly drop the bottle. A tall woman stood in the doorway, with three other people behind her.

"Watch it, you ridiculous woman! I nearly spilt it!"

"My apologies." said Grizelda. She marched into the room followed by her three sisters, Lucretia, Eustacia, and Venetia.

Ezekiel opened the bottle and inhaled it fumes. Slowly, he turned it upside down and poured it slowly onto the portrait of the Red King. He rubbed it in with his fingers, on every single bit of the canvas.

Next, the bottle of blood was poured on. Manfred paled. It was his blood, taken from his hand, because he was directly related to Borlath, the one who had blocked the portrait.

The sisters watched in fascination as Ezekiel put his hands over the portrait and started chanting. His voice was low in tone, so the sisters couldn't hear what he said. He chanted and chanted, until the portrait was surrounded by red and gold wind, which slowly raised up into the air, taking the portrait with it.

Manfred stood, transfixed. Was it really going to happen?

Silence. The portrait clattered back on to the table, and the wind dissolved.

A black shadow seeped from the Portrait, and faded into the air.

* * *

A/N: Please review!

Chapter Two should soon be put up. Heres a preview:

_Charlie stared into the cold green eyes._

_The woman stared back at him, smirking. "Watch your step little boy, you wouldn't want anything...bad, coming your way would you?"_

_Charlie shook his head, transfixed by the womans eyes. The green shone out at him, inviting him in. Charlie felt himself getting light headed. _

_Who was this woman? What did she want?_

_The woman, with a flick of her long blonde hair, turned around, and walked out into the drizzling rain..._


	2. Back to Bloors

_**

* * *

**_

_**Charlie Bone and the Hidden King**_

_**By: **Sinnuo_

_**Chapter One: **A Visit to Ezekiel _

_  
**Rating:** PG_

_**Charlie Bone and the Hidden King**_

_**By: **Sinnuo_

_**Chapter Two: **Back to Bloors_

_  
**Rating:** PG_

_**Summary:** Charlie Bone is back at Bloors Academy. The tension between the Children of the Red King is terrible. New faces, old faces, and more magic and adventure than Charlie could have imagined…Witches, books, fights and the battle of the Children of the Red King is what awaits Charlie…_

* * *

On Monday morning, Charlie slipped out of bed reluctantly. He pulled on his school uniform, and tucked his sapphire blue cloak under his arm. It was still raining outside, but the heavy wind had stopped.

He rushed downstairs where he was met by Grandma Bone rinsing out a bowl of cereal. She grunted impatiently when she saw Charlie, and snapped, "Hurry up, the school bus will be here any moment. If you're late, I'll make sure you get a detention. As you already know, or, at least you should, Dr Bloor will not tolerate lateness. And get your clock on."

Charlie pulled a face behind her back, which caused his other Grandmother, Maisie, giggled from the corner of the kitchen, where she was cooking some bacon.

"You bad boy!" she whispered, and carried on frying the bacon. Maisie was more kind hearted than Grandma Bone, and didn't mind being called by her first name. Grandma Bone, however, would go ballistic if she ever heard Charlie using her first name, which was Grizelda.

Charlie called goodbye to his grandmothers, and stepped out of the front door. The downpour started drenching him, so he ran to the blue bus parked on the end of Filbert street. He tripped over, and fell at the feet of a person. He stood up to apologize, and came face to face with a middle-aged woman, with long blonde hair, which was loose down her back. She had emerald green eyes, which bored into Charlie.

Charlie couldn't help him-self, and stared into the cold green eyes.

The woman stared back at him, smirking. "Watch your step little boy, you wouldn't want anything..._bad_, coming your way would you?"

Charlie shook his head, transfixed by the woman's eyes. The green shone out at him, inviting him in. Charlie felt himself getting light headed.

Who _was _this woman? What did she want?

The woman, with a flick of her long blonde hair, turned around, and walked out into the drizzling rain.. Charlie stared at her retreating back, and slowly made his way to the bus, where the driver was impatiently waiting for him.

"Took you time, didn't you?" remarked the driver.

"Sorry, I, err…fell over." replied Charlie, and made his way to the back of the bus. He spotted his friends, Fidelio Gunn, who was buried in a bunch of scribbled music notes, and was humming under his breath.

"Hi." said Charlie.

Fidelio jumped, and pushed his music into his bag, where it fell into an untidy heap. "Hullo Charlie," he said in his cheerful voice. No one could feel worried for to long when Fidelio was around.

Charlie explained what had just happened, and by the time he had finished, the bus had stopped and let out the children. Charlie and Fidelio where the last to get off, and made there way through the crowd, and through the great oak doors. They where silent as they made their way through the hall, and began chatting immediately as they passed through the sign of two trumpets.

There was only one other person in the cloak room, and it was a girl. New, presumably, because Charlie didn't recognize her.

"Hello," he said. The girl looked up. She had long black hair, which was tied into a braid. Her skin was very pale, like white china. She had large brown eyes, which sparkled.

"Anna McCain. I'm new here. Are you in music as well?"

"Yep," said Fidelio. "We are. Are you one of the Endowed?"

The girl coughed uneasily.

"Yes. But I don't really like saying how. But I like laying the flute. I'm quite good at it actually-" she paused and looked at her watch.

"Aren't we supposed to be in assembly?" she questioned.

"Damn!" cried Charlie, and he, Fidelio and Anna made there way to the Assembly hall. They snuck in at the back, so no one would see them. Only Miss Chrystal had noticed they had come in, and shook her head.

They all sat down at the back, and began to sing the songs. Anna had quite a good voice, her tone high and quiet. She went red when she noticed Charlie staring at her.

After assembly, Charlie made his way to his first lesson, History. He had to endure an hour of listening to Mr Pope bang on about some famous Aztecs, and Charlie felt himself beginning to tire. The information Mr Pope was shouting to the class when in straight one ear and out the other.

Suddenly there was a loud bang right in front of Charlie. He saw Mr Popes hand briefly lift up from the table, which he had slammed his hand down.

"CHARLIE BONE! ARE YOU EVEN LISTING TO WHAT I AM SAYING?" he shouted. Charlie went red and nodded.

"OH REALLY. WHO WAS-" bellowed Mr Pope, and pronounced a name that he couldn't quite make out.

"I-I don't know sir." he said quietly, bowing his head.

"If you continue to ignore this lesson once more, you will have a detention for Saturday!"

Charlie nodded, and the rest of the lesson seemed to drag. Mr Pope kept on shooting nasty questions to Charlie, who had just managed to get then all correct.

After the first lesson, all students had to go for a run in the gardens. The ground was sodden from all the rain, and Charlie felt himself frequently stumbling. He was forced to endure another terrible sprint around the garden, and when he had done god-knows how many laps, he was exhausted. He spotted Olivia Vertigo and Emma Tolly up ahead, jogging next to Anna McCain.

Charlie ran towards them, and stopped next to Olivia. Today she had shockingly blue hair, and knee high blue boots. Emma Tolly, had her long blonde hair styled in two plaits, which hung down her back.

"Hi," grunted Charlie.

"Hi. We where just talking to Anna hear," said Emma, indicating to Anna. "She's new."

"I know. She's in music." replied Charlie.

He had stopped to talk to them, and they started walking, instead of running. They began chatting, Emma about her weekend, and Olivia about hers.

"Run!" shouted a voice behind them. All four of them stopped and twirled to look behind them. Manfred Bloor was walking up to them, shaking his head.

"Manfred Bloor," muttered Olivia into Anna's ear. "He's evil." Anna giggled.

"What was that Vertigo?" shouted Manfred, "Right, that's a detention for you on Saturday."

"But she never did anything, she was just telling Anna who you where." said Charlie indignantly.

"And you Bone," he smirked. "You two, follow me,"

Charlie and Olivia followed behind Manfred, grumbling and stamping into puddles.

"At least I won't be on my own," whispered Olivia.

"There's always Billy Raven," Charlie whispered back.

Charlie was talking about the youngest boy in Bloors Academy, an albino who lived in the school because he was and orphan.

Charlie was walking when he felt the first stab of pain. It was in his stomach. He groaned. Olivia looked at him and mouthed: "Are you alright?"

Charlie shook his head, and a blinding flash of pain struck through his head. He fell to the floor, and the last thing he saw was Olivia screaming and runnig for help. He saw his world turn black, and slowly faded into unconsiousnes, the pain making him jerk about.

* * *


	3. Letters and New Problems

**Charlie Bone and the Hidden King**

**By: **Sinnuo

**Chapter Three: **Letters and New Problems

_  
_**Rating:** PG

**Summary:** _Charlie Bone is back at Bloors Academy. The tension between the Children of the Red King is terrible. New faces, old faces, and more magic and adventure than Charlie could have imagined…Witches, books, fights and the battle of the Children of the Red King is what awaits Charlie…_

Later that night, Charlie Bone awoke with a jolt. He rubbed his eyes and looked around him. He was in the sanatorium, still in his school uniform. He was lying on a hard, uncomfortable bed. Typical of the Bloors. It was quite dark outside, and he glanced at his watch: 6:47 pm.

What had happened to him? All he remembered was walking with Olivia to Manfred's office. Oh yes, he felt some pain in his head. His hand lifted automatically to his head to see if it felt all right.

Well, it certainly felt all right, because his fingers got tangled in his wild bushy hair. So then what had knocked him out? Questions, he knew, that would be answered quite soon. He had just begun to stand up when a voice barked, "No. Sit back down!"

Out of the shadows came his great Aunt Lucretia, one of Grandma Bones' sisters. Her white hair was piled up on top of her head, and she was wearing a standard black school cloak. In her hands she held a bowl, full of what looked liked steaming hot water. Charlie recognized the sweet smell, but before he could ask what it was, he felt his self dozing off, and was shook back awake again by Lucretia, who was pinching her nose.

"Is that…Vervain?" asked Charlie.

His Aunt nodded. "Yes. Hold your head back, and keep yourself steady."

Charlie tilted his head back, and the next moment felt the hot water trickling into his hair. It felt very soothing, and it took Charlie all he had in him not to fall asleep. His Aunt carried away the bowl, and said, "You'll be free two go in about half and hour."

Charlie waited in silence for about half an hour, and then got up. He had one more question to ask Aunt Lucretia before he left.

He knocked on a large door near the exit and went in. Aunt Lucretia was folding a letter, a grin unfurling on her face. Her head shot up when she heard Charlie. She quickly slipped the letter into her drawer.

"It's rude not to knock!" she snapped.

"I did-" began Charlie indignantly.

"What do you want?" his aunt interrupted.

"I want to ask you a question. Do you know what happened to me? I mean, who did it and what _did_ they do?" he asked.

His aunt paused. She sat stock still a moment, and then said. "It looked like a curse Charlie. A powerful curse. You better watch your back. Otherwise you might be spending a lot of time in here this year."

Charlie shuddered involuntarily. He began to ask what type of curse when a voice shouted, "Lucretia! Lucretia! Are you there?"

Aunt Lucretia shot a glance at Charlie. "You're free to go." She then walked out of the door, slamming it shut. Charlie quickly seized the opportunity. He went to her desk drawer and fumbled around for the letter. He grasped and shoved it into his pocket. He then opened the doors, and went out into the dark hallways. So much was on his mind. What was the letter about? Who had attacked him? Why?

He walked hurriedly to his dormitory. A grand father clock on the staircase told him it was 7:20 p.m. So he'd missed supper. There was really no point of going to the Red King's room; he'd had no homework given to him. Instead, he went to his dormitory, and pulled out the letter. It was written on thick paper, written in purple ink. Charlie began to read it:

_Dear Lucretia, _

_Today I ran into a curious problem with your plan. It seems that the man will fall out of his stupor. Manfred Bloor is needed._

_But it should work if the 'spirit', comes along with Manfred. You still haven't told me how he can control the thing as well. But with the power of Manfred and the spirit, we should be able to get things under control. _

_Yours Sincerely, _

_Melissa Damon._

_PS. I think I ran into your great nephew today. Small boy, with rough hair? He was in a blue cape._

Charlie put down the letter. So this Melissa Damon person was trying to put a person back to sleep. And she'd run into his this morning? Who was she talking about?

Excitement welled up in his chest. Could it be his father? Could Lyell Bone really be coming out of his stupor?

He hoped so, for his mother's sake. He was thinking about his dad when the door of the dormitory burst open. Fidelio Gunn, Gabriel Silk, Lysander Sage and Tancred Torrson all came charging in through the door.

"Hey guys!" Charlie exclaimed, and stuffed the letter in his pocket. There was no point in letting the guys see this.

"You're okay!" yelled Fidelio.

"Yeah, I just had a bit of Vervain put on my head."

Gabriel nodded. His floppy brown hair swayed as he nodded. As usual, his expression looked forlorn and sad. Tancred's spiky blonde crackled with electricity and said, "Tell us what happened!"

Charlie explained in a nutshell what had happened. After he had finished, Lysander, the African, frowned thoughtfully.

"But who'd do that to you?" he asked.

"I don't know," said Charlie thinking back over his enemies. Grandma Bone, Eustacia, Lucretia, and Venetia. Manfred and Ezekiel. Dr Bloor. Asa Pike, the were-beast. Joshua Tilpin, Inez and Idith Branko. Dorcas Loom. He was pretty sure that Billy Raven wasn't his enemy.

_Phew, _he thought, _I have a lot of enemies._

His thoughts flashed to that morning.

_He tripped over, and fell at the feet of a person. He stood up to apologise, and came face to face with a middle-aged woman, with long blonde hair, which was loose down her back. She had emerald green eyes, which bored into Charlie._

_Charlie couldn't help himself, and stared into the cold green eyes._

_The woman stared back at him, smirking. "Watch your step little boy, you wouldn't want anything...bad, coming your way would you?"_

_Charlie shook his head, transfixed by the woman's eyes. The green shone out at him, inviting him in. Charlie felt himself getting light headed._

_Who was this woman? What did she want?_

_The woman, with a flick of her long blonde hair, turned around, and walked out into the drizzling rain._

That was the woman that was keeping his Dad asleep? And trying to curse him, and maybe take him to the Bloors, and be forever hypnotized like his father…


End file.
